Document Headings

                    Document headings vary by document type but may contain                    the following:                  
                -                       the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document                    
                -                       the number of the CFR title and the number of each part                      the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly                      related to                    
                -                       the agency docket number / agency internal file number                    
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###### Department of Commerce

###### National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

          - [I.D.040407A]

# AGENCY:

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

# ACTION:

Notice; issuance of permit amendment.

# SUMMARY:

Notice is hereby given that Dr. Terrie Williams, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Center for Ocean Health - Long Marine Laboratory, University of California, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95060 has been issued an amendment to scientific research Permit No. 984-1814.

# ADDRESSES:

                        The amendment and related documents are available for review                               ( print page 17875)                            upon written request or by appointment in the following office(s):                    

Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910; phone (301)713-2289; fax (301)427-2521; and

Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213; phone (562)980-4001; fax (562)980-4018.

# FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kate Swails or Tammy Adams, (301)713-2289.

# SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

                    On February 15, 2007, notice was published in the                     **Federal Register**                     (72 FR 7419) that an amendment of Permit No. 984-1814, issued June 21, 2006 ( 71 FR 37060), had been requested by the above-named individual. The requested amendment has been granted under the authority of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1361*et seq.*), and the regulations governing the taking and importing of marine mammals (50 CFR part 216).                

                    Permit No. 984-1814 authorized the permit holder to capture up to 20 adult Weddell seals (                    *Leptonychotes weddellii*) and disturb up to 30 adult and 10 juvenile seals annually in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. The animals have a data logger/video system attached, muscle biopsies and blood samples collected, and blubber thickness measured. The permit also authorizes up to 3 research-related mortalities per year. The amendment changes the field season for this project from five August to December field seasons over 5 years to three back to back field seasons over the course of two research years. Researchers will capture 50 Weddell seals annually for 2 years instead of 20 annually over the course of 5 years. Researchers will attach data logger/video systems to 24 adult seals and another 24 seals will have time-depth recorders attached annually. Researchers will measure metabolic rates of all captured seals using open-flow respirometry.                

                    In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321*et seq.*), a final determination has been made that the activity proposed is categorically excluded from the requirement to prepare an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.                

Dated: April 5, 2007.

P. Michael Payne,

Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. E7-6752 Filed 4-9-07; 8:45 am]

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